The Ring
by The Disposable Villain
Summary: Malik has always had a sort of connection with spirits, so he knows that there's a spirit in the Ring that Ryou possesses. And he will anything to get it. Sort of one-sided Thiefshipping. M for character death.


_DD: I finally finished it! I've had this on my mind for a while. But I never actually sat down to write it… Until today! Hope you enjoy. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! If I did, there would be episodes like this._

* * *

Malik Ishtar was addicted to pain. If he couldn't watch others feel pain, he had to make _himself_ feel it. He had to see it – had to feel the exhilarating rush of adrenaline in his body – at least once per day.

His arms were littered with still-healing wounds from the days that another person's pain just wasn't good enough.

But there was a reason that those wounds were healing. Malik had found someone who gave off waves of pain in plentiful amounts.

Ryou Bakura.

"I don't know what to do…" Ryou murmured, nursing a cup of tea as he sat on the beige couch with hunched shoulders. "He's taking over my life…"

Malik suppressed a sigh. Although Ryou's pain was more than satisfying, it was growing tedious to pretend to be his friend. Ryou was about as interesting as the tea he was drinking.

Malik's eyes landed on the Ring around Ryou's neck. "Maybe it would help if you took off the Ring."

Aside from his pain, there was one other reason that Malik pretended to be Ryou's friend. The spirit that resided in the Ring that Ryou wore. He was sure it was there.

He had seen the spirit take over Ryou's body. In mere moments, the soft-spoken boy went from sweet to harsh. His voice became cold and his eyes oozed with blood-lust.

He hadn't _specified_ that he was a spirit of the Ring when he took over Ryou's body, but Malik knew that he was. He had to be; why else would Ryou's attitude change so much in so little time otherwise?

Malik turned his attention back to Ryou as the white-haired boy hesitated. "I don't know, Malik… My father gave this to me…"

Malik forced a smile. "You know I'd take good care of it, Ry. And besides, it can't do you any harm to take it off."

Still, Ryou hesitated, grazing his fingers over the eye of Horus in the middle of the Ring. "…You promise to take care of it?"

Malik's forced smile faded into a sincere one. "Of course."

Ryou hesitated once more before nodding and removing the Ring. "Okay then…" He handed the ring to Malik and a soft draft breezed through the room as the Egyptian took the Ring.

Malik grinned at Ryou. "Don't look so worried, Ry. I promise you; you won't regret this."

* * *

When Malik reached his apartment, the first thing he did was lock his door. It wasn't for any particular reason; it was just that he always locked it. It felt wrong to leave it open.

Then he placed the Ring on the coffee table. "Show yourself, spirit." Nothing happened. "I know that you're there. Stop playing innocent and show yourself."

"Who said I was playing innocent?"

Malik jumped despite himself and turned around. Behind him, a semi-transparent figure was leaning against the wall with folded arms.

His hair was white like Ryou's, but it was wilder and he had two bat-wing like bangs. His eyes were narrow and more like the colour of dried blood than any shade of brown. His skin was paler than Ryou's, and he was taller, though not by much.

He wore Ryou's typical outfit of jeans and a blue-and-white striped t-shirt, but with a black trench coat.

Malik swallowed. "So you're the spirit of the Millennium Ring then."

The spirit snorted. "So that's what they're calling me nowadays, is it?"

Malik hesitated. "Well… I think I'm really the only one who knows you exist. I just assumed you were a spirit, and you lived in the Ring, so…"

"Hn. Fair point." The spirit smirked. "You were right about me living in the Ring, but I'm not a spirit." His eyes flashed. "I'm a demon." Malik felt a shiver of excitement run up his spine as the spirit looked around. "So where is my host?"

"You mean Ryou?" Malik asked. "He let me take the Ring."

"Of course he would," the spirit snorted. He looked over at Malik. "Since I'm here, you may as well tell me your name, mortal."

"Malik. It's Malik." There was a moment of silence. "What about yours?"

"Bakura of Kul Elna."

Malik blinked in confusion. "But isn't Ryou's surname Bakura?"

"My name was Bakura before his was." Bakura narrowed his eyes.

Malik nodded. "Okay then." He sat back on the couch. "So I guess you're staying with me then."

An odd smirk crossed Bakura's face. "What makes you say that?"

Malik held up the Ring. "Ryou gave me the Ring, and you live inside the Ring, which I now own. Right?"

"Not quite." Bakura stood upright. "Ryou didn't give you the Ring. He _lent_ it to you. He'll ask for it back eventually."

Malik's eyes widened. "But-"

"That means you'll have to give the Ring back to him, and that's when you'll never see me again." Malik felt Bakura's gaze on him as he lowered his head, fists clenched. "Unless…" Malik's head shot up. "You get rid of him."

"W-what?" Malik's eyes widened.

"You heard me." Bakura's eyes narrowed. "You want me to stay with you, don't you?"

"Of course, but-"

"And Ryou's standing in the way of that, isn't he?"

"Yeah, I guess, but-"

"Then what's the problem?" Bakura's eyes narrowed further, still smirking. "Unless you don't want me here. In which case taking the Ring was pointless."

"No, I do want you here!" Malik insisted, standing up. "But Ryou's my friend…" Despite the fact that the spirit's host was about as interesting as the wall behind Malik, he couldn't deny that the past year had been… durable when he spent time with Ryou. More so than usual.

"Your friend?" Bakura spat. "Friends are for the weak. They prevent you taking what you want. And you obviously want to keep me." Bakura smirked. "So either get rid of him or prepare to lose me."

* * *

"Malik?"

Malik looked over at Ryou, who was sitting on the couch, nursing a cup of tea. "What is it?"

"I've been meaning to say…" Ryou didn't meet his gaze. "I don't like how you're always wearing the Ring like it's yours… I… I'd like to have it back…"

Malik blinked. Bakura appeared next to him in his spirit form. "What did I tell you?"

Ryou didn't seem to notice the demon's presence. "Thank you for taking care of it for me…"

Malik narrowed his eyes, but found himself chuckling. "What makes you think that I'm going to give it back, Ryou?"

Ryou looked up at him, a pleading look in his chocolate brown gaze. "Please, Malik; I only lent it to you…"

"My, this does sound familiar," Bakura hummed in mock thoughtfulness.

Malik clenched a fist and stood up. "The spirit doesn't want you, Ryou. You're pathetic to him. I'm a much better choice."

"Spirit?" Ryou's eyes were wide and doe-like. "What are you talking about? Malik, please…"

Malik blinked and shook his head. "I… Ryou, I'm sorry… I don't know what came over me there…" He gripped his head. "Gods, sorry…"

Ryou still seemed a bit scared, but forced a smile. "I-it's okay, Malik. Did you take your medication today?"

"No, I ran out. I meant to get some on my way home." Malik grinned. "That must be it. Of course I'll give you the Ring back."

Ryou nodded, relief flooding his eyes. "Thanks, Malik." He looked at Malik's cup. "Oh dear, your tea has gone cold. I'll make you another cup. Green or cinnamon?"

"Cinnamon please," Malik replied, watching as Ryou went into the kitchen.

Bakura glared at Malik. "What was that? I thought you wanted me to stay."

Malik didn't respond as he stood up and followed Ryou into the kitchen. Ryou looked up as Malik entered and smiled. "You didn't need to follow me in. I can bring your tea out to you."

"I know you could have." Malik smirked. "But if you did, I wouldn't have been able to lure you in here."

Ryou blinked in confusion. "M-Malik?"

Malik chuckled. "You see, Ryou, I have no intention of giving the Ring back. But there was nothing in the living room I could use to prove my point. In here, however…" He smirked and picked up a large knife. "You use this to cut steak, don't you? I honestly think that eating meat is disgusting. Why would you eat something that has a beating heart like you do?" Malik turned to Ryou. "But since you love it so much, how about you see what you put the animals through each day?"

He advanced on Ryou. Ryou took shaky steps back until he crashed into the counter. He reached behind him and threw the first item he could reach at Malik. Malik ducked, still advancing, and the mug smashed on impact with the wall.

Ryou whimpered in fear and tried to run but Malik caught his wrist and slammed his body into Ryou's sending both of them to the floor.

They grappled for a moment, but having superior strength, Malik soon pinned Ryou to the floor, straddling his waist to hold him there.

"Malik, please don't do this," Ryou begged, tears brimming in his eyes. "Please, just get your medication… It'll help… Please don't…"

Malik placed the knife at Ryou's throat, silencing him. "Sorry, Ry. It's nothing personal. But it's either you or the spirit. And I choose him."

He dragged the blade across Ryou's throat in a deep, thin line. Ryou's eyes widened and a gurgling sound that was likely meant to be a scream of pain passed his lips before his eyes dulled and his body went limp.

Malik was panting, not from fatigue, but the adrenaline rushing through his body. He looked up at Bakura, who was leaning against the door frame. He had seen everything.

"Well?"

"Well what?" Bakura raised an eyebrow.

"I killed him!" Malik frowned. "Aren't you happy? Now you can have a better host. A stronger one."

Bakura smirked. "I would be happy. If the police weren't on their way." Malik's eyes widened. "You see, my host seemed to know that something was wrong. When he went into the kitchen, he called one one nine. You didn't seem to notice, but the call was ongoing the entire time that you spent chasing after and killing Ryou."

There was a loud bang on the door. "Open the door this instant!"

Bakura's smirk grew. "I believe that's them now." He began to fade away. "Goodbye, Malik. If you ever get out, come find me. I may have a new host for you to kill. Provided you do a better job of course."

Malik found himself helpless as he watched Bakura disappear. "Wait… Don't leave me…"

A few moments later, the door crashed open and several guards ran into the room. They yelled at Malik to freeze, and put his hands above his head.

Malik obliged, feeling numb. Why did spirits always leave him? It just wasn't fair…

* * *

Yugi Mutou looked through the window on the door of the cell. Inside the padded room sat a boy with tanned skin, lavender eyes and blonde hair. He met Yugi's gaze. "Hi."

"Uh… hi…"

"Would you mind getting me some kohl? I ran out."

Yugi blinked. "I… I don't think I'm allowed…"

"You're new?" The boy grinned as Yugi nodded. "Well yes you're allowed. You're just not allowed let me have one of those eyeliners. I have to use a brush. The eyeliners are sharp." His grin became a hopeful smile. "I'm also allowed chocolate?"

"I-I'll go ask one of the other guards," Yugi muttered, turning away from the window. He yelped as he crashed into someone and looked up to see a large, tanned man with shoulder-length brown hair and dark eyes. "Mahad… I was just talking to… Uh…" Yugi looked back at the door he had just turned away from.

Mahad followed his gaze. "His name's Malik Ishtar. I'm guessing he asked for kohl and chocolate?" Yugi nodded. "You can get it for him. Just don't give him the eyeliner or the wrappers. You can give him a thin paintbrush for the kohl."

Yugi hesitated and looked back at the door. "He seems perfectly normal… Why is he… here?"

"You mean in a mental asylum?" Yugi nodded. Mahad sighed. "He killed two people. The first was his father. He had abused Malik from a young age, and one day I guess he just snapped. He stabbed him seventeen times. The second was a schizophrenic boy called Ryou Bakura. He sliced his throat open."

Yugi shuddered, wide-eyed. "Then why is he here? Shouldn't he be in prison?"

"That's what I thought, but his lawyer managed to convince him to plead mentally unstable in the court case two years ago." Mahad didn't look at Yugi. He kept his gaze fixed on the door. "He claimed that spirits told him to kill them. One was something that appeared when he took an artefact known as the Millennium Rod. His name was Marik. He told him to kill his father as revenge for all the abuse he suffered. The second was a spirit that resided in the Millennium Ring that Ryou possessed. He had lent it to Malik, and apparently the spirit appeared to him and said that if Malik wanted him to stay, he would have to kill his previous owner. Hence the death of Ryou."

"Whoa…" Yugi's eyes were as wide as an owl's. "But why did he think there was spirits in them?"

"The Rod he claimed simply to have taken because it was shiny. He has a fondness for anything shiny. It just happened to be Marik's home." Mahad sighed. "As for the Ring, he thought that Ryou's other personality was a spirit of the Ring known as Bakura. He asked to borrow the Ring and he must have cooked up a delusion that the spirit could talk to him." Mahad looked at Yugi and chuckled at his shock. "Don't worry; he's harmless right now. We've given him medication and he hasn't spouted any nonsense about anymore spirits."

"Wasn't he taking medication when he killed Ryou?"

Mahad shook his head. "He claimed that he had run out a week or two before the incident and hadn't bothered to get anymore. But we make sure that he takes it every day now. You're perfectly safe." He grinned. "Now go get the kohl and chocolate."

Yugi nodded and scurried off to get the aforementioned items. When he returned, he hesitated before opening the door and walking into Malik's cell. Malik smiled at the sight of the chocolate and took it and the kohl. "Thanks a bunch." Then his eyes landed on the Puzzle around Yugi's neck. "Is that… a Millennium Item?"

Yugi's eyes widened as he remembered that the two items Malik had come into possession of before he had killed his father and Ryou were Millennium Items. Like his Puzzle. "No, of course not," he lied. "This is just a replica. I couldn't afford something like that." He let out a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his head.

Malik didn't take his gaze of the Puzzle. "Atem… Huh…"

Yugi swallowed. "I, uh… I need to go…" He fled the room with astonishing speed for his size.

He peeked back into the room to see Malik smirking. "Come back any time, Yugi. And bring your Puzzle. I'd like to talk to Atem again."

Yugi shuddered and began to walk away from the cell, trying to banish Malik from his mind. He was insane. Yugi didn't know anyone called Atem.

Maybe it was one of the spirits that Malik supposedly saw? Yugi would have to mention it to Mahad. It was only later that day that he realised something. _I never told him my name… So how did he know it?_

* * *

 _DD: So which do you believe? Is Malik really insane or did the spirits exist? And no, I won't be continuing this one. It's staying as a one-shot. Oh, and just so there's no confusion, 119 is the emergency number in Japan. Please review and I hope you enjoyed. See you next time, Killer Queens!_


End file.
